David Gibbins
Encyclopedia
David Gibbins is a Canadian-born underwater archaeologist
and a bestselling novelist.
, Canada
, to English
parents who were both academic scientists. He travelled around the world with them by sea as a boy, including four years living in New Zealand
, before returning to Canada. He attended the University of Bristol
, England, where he was awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Ancient Mediterranean Studies. He then went to Cambridge University as a Research Scholar of Corpus Christi College
, where he completed a PhD in Archaeology
in 1990.
Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily
and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage
. In 1999-2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th century BC shipwreck off Turkey
. His many publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Most recently his fieldwork has taken him to the Arctic Ocean
, to Mesoamerica
and to the Great Lakes
in Canada.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool
. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis
, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
Among his awards Gibbins has held a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship
.
He divides his time between fieldwork, a farm in Canada where he writes, and England. He has a daughter, whose mother is the philosopher and broadcaster Angie Hobbs
. He is related to the 19th century historian Henry de Beltgens Gibbins
and is great great nephew of Brigadier Henry John Gordon Gale, DSO and Bar
.
Underwater archaeology
Underwater archaeology is archaeology practised underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras...
and a bestselling novelist.
Biography
He was born in Saskatoon, SaskatchewanSaskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, to English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
parents who were both academic scientists. He travelled around the world with them by sea as a boy, including four years living in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, before returning to Canada. He attended the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, England, where he was awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Ancient Mediterranean Studies. He then went to Cambridge University as a Research Scholar of Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, where he completed a PhD in Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
in 1990.
Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. In 1999-2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th century BC shipwreck off Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. His many publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Most recently his fieldwork has taken him to the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
, to Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
and to the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
in Canada.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis
Atlantis (novel)
Atlantis is an archaeological adventure novel by David Gibbins. First published in 2005, it is the first book in Gibbins' Jack Howard series...
, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
Among his awards Gibbins has held a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based...
.
He divides his time between fieldwork, a farm in Canada where he writes, and England. He has a daughter, whose mother is the philosopher and broadcaster Angie Hobbs
Angie Hobbs
Angela Hunter Hobbs is a British philosopher. Hobbs is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick, and was previously a Research Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge. She has a First Class Honours Degree in Classics acquired at New Hall, Cambridge and a PhD in Classical Philosophy from...
. He is related to the 19th century historian Henry de Beltgens Gibbins
Henry de Beltgens Gibbins
Henry de Beltgens Gibbins was a popular historian of 19th century England whose books were bestsellers in the late Victorian period; his Industry in England went to ten editions over fifteen years, and was published internationally....
and is great great nephew of Brigadier Henry John Gordon Gale, DSO and Bar
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
.
Fiction
Jack Howard Series- Gibbins, David. 2005. AtlantisAtlantis (novel)Atlantis is an archaeological adventure novel by David Gibbins. First published in 2005, it is the first book in Gibbins' Jack Howard series...
. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 978-0-7553-2422-4 - Gibbins, David. 2006. Crusader GoldCrusader Gold (novel)Crusader Gold is an archaeological adventure novel by David Gibbins. First published in 2006, it is the second book in Gibbins' Jack Howard series. It has been published in more than 20 languages and was a New York Times bestseller...
. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 978-0-7553-2927-4 - Gibbins, David. 2008. The Last GospelThe Last Gospel (novel)The Last Gospel is an archaeological adventure novel by David Gibbins. First published in 2008, it is the third book in Gibbins' Jack Howard series...
. (The Lost Tomb in US). London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 978-0-7553-3514-5 - Gibbins, David. 2009, The Tiger Warrior. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 978-0-553-59125-5
- Gibbins, David. 2010, The Mask Of Troy. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 978 0 7553 5395 8
- Gibbins, David. 2011, The Gods of AtlantisThe Gods of Atlantis (novel)The Gods of Atlantis is an archaeological adventure novel by New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author David Gibbins...
. (Atlantis God in US). London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell (2012). ISBN 978 0 7553 5398 9
Non-fiction
- Gibbins, David, 1988. 'Surgical instruments from a Roman shipwreck off Sicily.' Antiquity 62 (235), pp. 294-7.
- Gibbins, David. 1990. 'The hidden museums of the Mediterranean.' New Scientist 128 (1739), pp. 35-40.
- Gibbins, David and Christopher ChippindaleChristopher ChippindaleChristopher Chippindale is a British archaeologist. He works at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He is the author of the book Stonehenge Complete, published in 2004.-References:...
(eds), 1990. 'Maritime archaeology.' Antiquity 64 (243), pp. 334-400. - Gibbins, David, 1990. 'Analytical approaches in maritime archaeology: a Mediterranean perspective'. Antiquity 64 (243), pp. 376-389.
- Gibbins, David and Christopher ChippindaleChristopher ChippindaleChristopher Chippindale is a British archaeologist. He works at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He is the author of the book Stonehenge Complete, published in 2004.-References:...
, 1990. 'Heritage at sea: proposals for the better protection of British archaeological sites underwater'. Antiquity 64 (243), pp. 390-400. - Gibbins, David. 1993. 'Bronze Age wreck's revelations.' Illustrated London News 281 (7116), pp. 72-3.
- Gibbins, David, 1993. 'Das im Mittelmeer verborgene Museum.' Mannheimer Forum 92/93. Ein Panorama der Naturwissen schaften. Mannheim: Boehringer Mannheim, pp. 175-243.
- Gibbins, David, 1995 'What shipwrecks can tell us.' Antiquity 69:263, pp. 408-411.
- Gibbins, David J.L., Mike M. Emery and Keith J. Mathews, 1996. The Archaeology of an Ecclesiastical Landscape. Chester Archaeology Excavation and Survey Report No. 9. Chester City Council/The University of Liverpool. ISBN 978-1-872587-09-7
- Gibbins, David, 1997. 'Deleta est Carthago?' Antiquity 71 (271), pp. 217-219.
- Gibbins, David. 1998. 'Maritime archaeology'. in Shaw, I. and R. Jameson (eds) Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17423-3
- Gibbins, David. 2000. 'Classical shipwreck excavation at Tektas Burnu, Turkey.' Antiquity 74:283, pp. 199-201.
- Gibbins, David. 2001. 'Shipwrecks and Hellenistic trade.' in Zofia H. Archibald et al. (eds.), Hellenistic Economies. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 273-312. ISBN 978-0-415-23466-5
- Gibbins, David and Jonathan Adams (eds), 2001. Shipwrecks. World Archaeology 32.3. London: Routledge. ISSN 0043-8243
- Gibbins, David and Jonathan Adams, 2001. 'Shipwrecks and maritime archaeology.' World Archaeology, 32:3, pp. 279-291.
- Gibbins, David. 2001. 'A Roman shipwreck of c. AD 200 at Plemmirio, Sicily: evidence for north African amphora production during the Severan period.' World Archaeology 32.3, pp. 311-334.